“Just as well, with Sheriff Zach still coming out to the house looking for you.”
“Zach Gillespie wants a quiet, retiring woman who wears a dress and has tea parties. Do I look like that kind of woman?” Meg shook her head, her heartache was nearly healed, though she could never look at Zach again without smiling and remembering him tied up naked.
Ruby laughed. “No, but you could be if you wanted.”
Meg glanced out the window. The glow of the setting sun cast a shadow, but she could still see the dress shop down the street. After she’d spoken to this no name town sheriff, she’d spent time gazing and fingering the available dresses and the patterns of the latest fashions in the little shop. Inside these pants, a woman longed to emerge and live like a lady, not the rough, bounty hunter facade of the life she lived now.
“I’ll never change for any man. As soon as we pay off the farm, then I’m going to begin my life and do things the way I want to,” Meg vowed. She had dreams, she had plans, and soon, it would be her time.
Beneath her men’s clothes was a woman waiting to burst out of the confines of these pants and shirt, but circumstances required she dress like a man. But the girly-girl had a hidden vice. Her own little secret pleasure…a rouge pot. Just a tiny bit of color to her lips helped her remember she was a girl. A girl who had all the same desires as every other woman.
As the sun continued its descent, cloaking the street in darkness, she knew it would soon be time to carry out their plan.
“Your weapon’s ready?” Meg asked one last time. She worried about Ruby and hated leaving her alone with any outlaw for any period.
“Yes,” Ruby said. “And you’ll be in there with me?”
“Until you give me the signal.”
“Remind me how much this guy’s worth?”
“Five hundred dollars.” This could be their last bounty find if things worked out like Meg planned.
Ruby smiled and walked over to the window. “Papa would be so proud of us.”
Meg shook her head, knowing their Papa would have been furious at the chances they were taking. “Maybe secretly, but he’d tell us we should have taken jobs in town. He’d have been more concerned about our safety than how we were paying off the farm.”
Ruby turned, her mouth twisted with displeasure. “I will never become a maid again. Never. This last year has been exciting, and criminals are too stupid to realize a pretty woman is going to pull a gun on them.”
Meg nodded. In the last year, Ruby had changed and matured. She’d gone from a love-crazed girl to being driven to catch as many low-life criminals as they could. She enjoyed the chase, the thrill. “Annabelle said we need four hundred dollars more, and the farm will be mortgage free.”
“Old man Clark will fall out of his chair when you pay off the note.”
She smiled. “Annabelle said he wasn’t too friendly when she took in the payment on the note this year. He had plans on repossessing the farm. Too bad.”
“I miss Annabelle,” Ruby said with a wistful whine in her voice.
“Yeah, me too. But someone had to take care of the farm, and she’s good at the bookkeeping.”
Meg glanced out the hotel room window and watched as men entered the saloon across the street, the doors swinging wide. Now was when her nerves had her stomach rolling, her heart racing, and fear choking her throat. What if something happened to Ruby? How could she live with herself?
“The drinking has begun,” Meg said quietly, listening to the music spilling out into the street.
“And will soon end for Simon Trudeau,” Ruby said laughing, her eyes shining with excitement. There was no fear in her eyes, only excited anticipation, only reckless adventure.
“The horses are saddled and ready to go. Give me your satchel and I’ll secure it on your horse. I can’t go in with you, or they’ll make the connection between us.” Meg stared at her youngest sister, fear sitting like a pit in the bottom of her stomach. “You’re all set? Your weapons are ready?”
Ruby shrugged. “My knife is in my boot. My gun is in my holster.” She smiled. “And my charm is ready to ensnare this poor bastard.”
Meg was always stunned at how much Ruby enjoyed the chase. They used her as the bait. Then Meg would pull a gun on some poor unlucky bastard, and Ruby would tie him up. Every time before a catch, Ruby’s blue eyes would sparkle and shine with excitement. She loved being a bounty hunter. She loved catching criminals, and most of all she loved playing her many roles.
They’d done everything from the distraught woman, pregnant wife, and now a saloon girl. Wherever the criminal resided, they’d lay a trap and ensnare the bastard.
“Where’s your hat?” Ruby asked.
“Right here,” Meg said and picked up her black cowboy hat and pulled it down tight.
But for Meg it was just a job. A means to an end. A way to earn a decent living and pay for the farm. Once they had enough money, she would retire and never chase another criminal if she could. But Ruby loved the chase, the entrapment, and the thrill of turning in the longrider.
Music echoed down the street, and Meg knew it was time. “Are you ready?”
Ruby smiled, her lips painted red, her cheeks tinted with the same color. “Let’s get this done, so we can go home for a while.”
“Let’s go.”
The two walked out of the hotel room together, but once they reached the street, Ruby walked to the saloon alone.
Meg gave her just enough time to get inside and then she followed. Time to go to work.
End of Preview
Deadly
Coming in July
Author Bio
Sylvia McDaniel
Sylvia McDaniel is a best-selling, award-winning author of western historical romance and contemporary romance novels. Known for her sweet, funny, family-oriented romances, Sylvia is the author of The Burnett Brides a western historical western series, The Cuvier Widows, a Louisiana historical series, and several short contemporary romances.
Former President of the Dallas Area Romance Authors, a member of the Romance Writers of America®, and a member of Novelists Inc, her novel, A Hero’s Heart was a 1996 Golden Heart Finalist. Several other books have placed or won in the San Antonio Romance Authors Contest, LERA Contest, Golden Network Finalist and a Carolyn Readers Finalist.
Married for nearly twenty years to her best friend, they have one dachshund that reigns as Queen Supreme Dog and a good-looking, grown son who thinks there’s no place like home. Sylvia loves gardening, shopping, knitting and football (Cowboys and Bronco’s fan), but not necessarily in that order.
Currently she’s written eighteen novels and is hard at work on number nineteen. Be sure to sign up for her newsletter to learn about new releases, contests and every month a new subscriber is entered into a drawing for a free book.
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You can write to Sylvia at P.O. Box 2542, Coppell, TX 75019 or visit her website.
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Sylvia McDaniel
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, downloaded, transmitted, decompiled, reverse engineered, stored in or introduced to any information storage and retrieval system, in any form, whether electronic or mechanical without the author’s written permission. Scanning, uploading or distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without permission is prohibited.
Please purchase only authorized electronic versions, and do not participate in, or encourage pirated electronic versions
Publisher: Virtual Bookseller LLC
eBook formatting by Ink Lion Books
Cover by Lyndsey Lewellen
Table Of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Author Bio
Other Books by Sylvia
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